Sanaz Manii: registration suspended by OMARA on 24 Jul 2024

What the Authority decided

On 24 July 2024, the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (the Authority) decided to suspend Agent, Ms Sanaz Manii (MARN 1463387) from being registered as a migration agent for a period of six (6) months.

The Authority found that the Agent breached her obligations under clauses 2.1(b), 2.3, 2.4, 2.8 (b) & (d), 2.18, 2.19, 5.3 (a), and 6.1 of the former Code for registered migration agents. The Authority also found the Agent breached section 32 of the current Code for registered migration agents.

Authority ਨੇ ਪਾਇਆ ਕਿ Agent:

• Did not deal with her clients competently, diligently or fairly;
• Did not have sound working knowledge of relevant migration legislation, and due regard for her client’s dependence on her knowledge;
• Did not act in accordance with her client's instructions, and within a reasonable time after the case was decided to tell the client of the outcome (in writing);
• Did not act in a timely manner to lodge documentation in time for statutory deadlines;
• Failed in her duty to provide sufficient relevant information to the Department to allow a full assessment of all the facts against relevant criteria;
• Carried out work in a manner that unnecessarily increased the cost to her clients;
• Did not maintain proper records that could be made available for inspection on request from the Authority; and
• Failed to respond to requests from the Authority for information or documents.

The Agent’s suspension will be in effect for a period of six (6) months from the date of the Authority’s decision.

05 August 2024 ਨੂੰ Administrative Appeals Tribunal ਨੇ ਫੈਸਲੇ 'ਤੇ stay ਦਿੱਤਾ। ਜਦ ਤੱਕ stay ਲਾਗੂ ਹੈ, ਏਜੰਟ ਨੂੰ immigration assistance ਦੇਣ ਦੀ ਇਜਾਜ਼ਤ ਹੈ।

On 01 November 2024 the Administrative Review Tribunal dismissed the agent's appeal. This means that the stay on the decision has ceased and that the agent cannot provide immigration assistance.

ਉੱਪਰ ਦਿੱਤਾ ਫੈਸਲੇ ਦਾ ਸਾਰ ਇਸ ਤੋਂ ਦੁਬਾਰਾ ਪ੍ਰਸਤੁਤ ਕੀਤਾ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ Authority's published record of this decision, which also carries the decision document itself. Nothing has been added to it.

ਜੇ ਇਹ ਤੁਹਾਡਾ ਏਜੰਟ ਸੀ ਤਾਂ suspension ਦਾ ਕੀ ਮਤਲਬ ਹੈ

ਰਜਿਸਟ੍ਰੇਸ਼ਨ ਇੱਕ ਨਿਰਧਾਰਤ ਮਿਆਦ ਲਈ ਨਿਲੰਬਿਤ ਹੈ। ਇਸ ਦੌਰਾਨ ਏਜੰਟ may not lawfully give immigration assistance — ਤੁਹਾਨੂੰ ਨਹੀਂ, ਕਿਸੇ ਨੂੰ ਵੀ ਨਹੀਂ। Section 280 of the Migration Act makes paid immigration assistance by an unregistered person a criminal offence, and a suspended agent is unregistered for the duration.

This is the outcome that most often catches people mid-matter, because the agent is still there and the suspension has an end date. If your matter can wait, it may be able to wait. If you have a response deadline from the Department inside the suspension period, it cannot.

If this was your agent: the first week

1. Find out where your application actually is. If you have an ImmiAccount, log in. The clock does not stop because your representation did.
2. Check who the Department is writing to. A Form 956 makes an agent the authorised recipient, and correspondence sent to them is taken to have been given to you. A deadline sent to an inbox nobody reads is still a deadline.
3. Get your file. Your documents are yours and the Code requires them back — originals first. ਆਪਣੀ file ਵਾਪਸ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਲੈਣੀ ਹੈ.
4. Work out what was paid and what was done. ਵਿਸਥਾਰਵਾਰ ਇਨਵੌਇਸ ਅਤੇ ਰਸੀਦਾਂ ਮੰਗੋ ਜਿਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੀ Code ਮੰਗ ਕਰਦੀ ਹੈ। Routes to recover money work better started early.
5. Complain, if there is something to complain about. A published decision does not close your own file. Where to complain, and what OMARA can and cannot do.
6. Only then, find someone else. A new agent needs the file and the dates. The first five steps are what make that first conversation useful instead of exploratory.

What this decision does not mean

It is a decision about one individual on one date. Only a person can be a registered migration agent — a company cannot — so it says nothing about anyone else at the same practice. Decisions of this kind are reviewable, and bars and suspensions expire. The register ਉਹ ਥਾਂ ਹੈ ਜਿੱਥੇ ਮੌਜੂਦਾ ਸਥਿਤੀ ਦਰਜ ਹੈ।

Decision information sourced from the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority and used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence. VisaBid is not affiliated with OMARA or the Department of Home Affairs.